


new beginning

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bittersweet, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, Not Beta Read, Other, Post-Canon, Short One Shot, Tragic Romance, but can be seen as post azure moon, byleth is nonverbal, i guess?, implied PTSD, warm up fic, written with silver snow / verdant wind in mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 08:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20486030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Byleth's new life needs some adjusting.Rhea is just living as she once did.But they survive, together, because they have eachother.





	new beginning

Life was different.

The sun crept up in the mornings, looking quite beautiful in the bloody canyon. Rhea always woke up earlier than Byleth, though. She sat for hours, staring at the night sky and then at the sunrise by the window. She did not wish to sleep, nor did Byleth force her.

This morning was no different. Byleth woke up, finding their side to be empty. She must have been tending to the farm by now. Rhea got so embarrassed when Byleth caught her by the windowsill, so much so that she’d cry. Byleth did not understand why.

Their house was not large. It was somewhat a cottage, warm enough to protect against winter and open enough to not boil in the summer. It took Byleth maybe five steps to head on out to their backyard, where Rhea stood.

The farm was plentiful. Despite the harsh canyon soil, they had managed to grow healthy crops together. Rhea looked different, outside of her graceful, long robes that would make her look otherworldly. It was hard to believe she was a child of the progenitor god who made the earth when Byleth saw her covered in mud and dirt, pulling weeds.

“Good morning.” Rhea was not tending to the farm like Byleth had expected, but was simply sitting on the ground and relaxing. She did not turn her head to face Byleth, or made another comment. Byleth did not respond, and instead walked over to Rhea’s side, and sat.

They sat in silence for some time. Rhea had closed her eyes, but Byleth found it hard to not try to pay attention to everything around them. Nothing had changed, really. The canyon was still red, occasional birds flocked together in the sky. Sometimes, wyverns would pass by. And yet, Byleth could not relax.

“Come here.” Rhea mumbled, not raising her voice above a whisper. Byleth slowly came closer, on their knees now, and tentatively touched Rhea’s hand with their own. Her cheeks were wet. Rhea opened her eyes, gazing at them with so many emotions Byleth could not understand. But she smiled still and kissed them on their forehead, sighing with what she called love. “Do you know how much I love you?”

That was sudden. It was not often that Rhea professed her love for them. They were living in solitude now, after years of bloody war, and Rhea had maybe spoken about her love for Byleth three or four times. They were married, yes; Rhea wore the ring Byleth had gifted her, with no complaints, and yet they were not a couple who talked about this often. After a long pause, Byleth slowly nodded, trying to understand their wife.

“I love you, so very dearly. More than the age of the world, more than every fish in every stream and every boar on every plain. I adore you. I love you more than anything, anything else in the world. I love you with or without your clothes, your name, your crest, your heart; all of that is irrelevant to me. You are everything to me, my beginning, my ending. I love you.”

Before Byleth could respond, or even begin to understand, Rhea smiled and shook her head. “I know. Do not force yourself to speak… I love your voice, even when I seldom hear it. Lay your head in my lap, my love.” And so Byleth did. Rhea ran her fingers through their hair, sighing gently as the breeze flowed through the canyon. “You know… I want to see Zanado flourish once more. Perhaps… I don’t, well, I’ve never tried, but,” she paused, as if in embarrassment, “we could try to grow, here, in the Red Canyon. Do you…?”

Byleth nodded.

“Ah.” Rhea smiled and gently caressed Byleth’s cheek with her thumb. “Could it be… that after marriage, we’ve come to understand one another so deeply?” Another nod. Rhea laughed, smiling genuinely now. “Oh, dear… how lucky I am.”

They did not return inside until the sun fell. Byleth had not seen Sothis in years, despite their efforts to make her resurface for Rhea. And yet, they wondered. Would she be happy, knowing how everything had ended? Or would she not care, simply letting it be?

Somehow, Byleth knew Sothis’s answer. They did not tell Rhea their thoughts as they slipped into bed, limbs intertwined with her own, but she knew.

**Author's Note:**

> i dont know what compelled me to write this. i just did. i dont even like rhea and byleth together but i thought of this and decided to put it on paper.


End file.
